The Game Awards wasn’t just about blockbuster sequels, with lots of new indie games, including new titles from the makers of Dead Cells and Ori.
For better and worse, The Game Awards goes on for over three hours, but a significant percentage of that time is spent on smaller indie games, rather than just well-known AAA titles.
It’s easy for them to get lost in the shuffle, especially as many of them were only announced during the pre-show, but that’s a shame as a lot of them looked really good, including sequels to Pony Island and World Of Goo, and new games from the makers of Inscryption and Thumper.
Indie sequels are notorious for never selling well, regardless of their quality, but hopefully these will deserve to buck the trend, as a lot of them looked really cool.
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons Remake
This was leaked before the awards took place but it’s welcome nonetheless, even if original director Josef Fares has long since left to start his own company, where he made A Way Out and It Takes Two. As a result, the remake is by Italian team AvantGarden Studios, rather than Swedish creators Starbreeze. It’s out on February 28 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Pony Island 2: Panda Circus
Despite what it may sound like, Pony Island was one of the best, and most disturbing, games of 2016. Much of the appeal came from not knowing what on earth was going on, so we’re not sure we even advise watching this trailer – although it is pretty glorious. The flickering date at the end seems to imply a 2025 or 2026 release date, with PC so far the only confirmed format.
Harmonium: The Musical
We’re already starting to feel guilty about leaving out any of these indie games, but this one definitely stood out. We’re not sure we understood exactly how it works but it seems to be a Disney musical made with deaf players in mind. Deaf or not the whole thing seems completely charming and the designs of the animals made out of musical instruments looks like a more wholesome version of Horizon Zero Dawn. It’s coming to both Netflix and Game Pass so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to play it for free.
Windblown
This definitely should’ve been included in the main segment of the show, as it’s the new game from the creators of Dead Cells. Most of the trailer is animated, so it’s a little hard to tell what exactly the game is, but apparently it’s a three-player co-op game where if your ally gets killed they’re absorbed into your weapon to improve it. It sounds like another roguelike at heart, with early access starting next year.
Thrasher
You can immediately tell this is from the same artist and composer as Thumper, 2016’s creepiest rhythm action game. As with a lot of these indie titles it’s not entirely clear what’s going on in the trailer but apparently it’s a ‘mind-melting cosmic racer’ where you ‘swoop, dash, and thrash to defeat wild bosses in the ultimate race for survival.’ We loved Thumper so we’re sold already, especially as it’s due out next year on console, PC, and VR.
Dave The Diver X Dredge
Not a crossover we ever expected to see, especially this soon after both game’s release, but here we are, with a free slice of DLC for the excellent Dave The Diver that adds elements from the not-that-excellent Dredge, including Lovecraftian monsters and creepy fog banks. We’ve got a feeling we’re going to enjoy this more than the original Dredge; it’s out on Friday, December 15.
World Of Goo 2
This is a real blast from the past. As the trailer itself reminds you, World Of Goo was a big hit on the Wii, back when the whole idea of indie games was still relatively new. The trailer makes it all seem very similar to the original, but it’s been so long we can’t remember a lot of the details – so it’s hard to tell what’s new and what’s not. It doesn’t really matter though as the original was always fun and hopefully the sequel will be too when it launches next year.
Big Walk
A new game from the creators of the glorious Untitled Goose Game instantly has our attention, although we admit we have no idea what’s going on here. You seem to be playing as aliens that look like those old drinking bird toys but apparently the goal of the game is all about teamwork and talking. How much actual gameplay is in there isn’t clear, but it’s out in 2025.
Kemuri
Former PlatinumGames and Tango Gameworks developer Ikumi Nakamura now has her own studio, called Unseen, and while it’s great to see her back, and still working in the industry, she admitted that Kemuri is so early in development they don’t even have a publisher yet. It’s hard to tell what the game is but at a guess we’d say a cross between Overwatch and Mirror’s Edge.
No Rest For The Wicked
Another big indie announcement, this is the new game from Moon Studios, the developer best known for the two Ori games. They already said they weren’t working on any more sequels but, again, it’s hard to tell what exactly this is, other than another indie game with a cool and unique art style. It looks faintly like a Diablo style action role-player, but apparently more information will be revealed on March 1 – so we should find out for sure what’s going on then.
Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU
Actor Abubakar Salim (Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins) got pretty cut up about announcing this game, as it was meant as a homage to his now late father. It was hard not to get caught up in the emotion with him, but ZAU looks to be a genuinely interesting game in its own right: a Metroidvania reminiscent of Ori and the new Prince Of Persia, but with an African setting. EA is publishing and it’ll be out on April 23.
Mecha Break
Not only did we get a cool looking dinosaur game during The Game Awards but there was also this rather neat looking transforming robot game. We’re not familiar with developer Seasun Games but we like what we see, with a more arcade style approach than Armored Core 6 and more Macross/Transformers style robot design. A closed alpha test is apparently coming ‘soon’.
Exoborne
If developers thought that extraction shooters like Escape From Tarkov were going to be an easier sell than yet another battle royale then they’ve been sorely mistaken, as it’s prove even harder for them to find success – with Activision recently ending support for Call Of Duty’s DMZ mode. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodhunt developer Sharkmob is giving it a go anyway, with this new ‘tactical open world extraction shooter’ by a number of veterans of Ubisoft’s The Division franchise.
Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter.
MORE : Light No Fire is the new game from the makers of No Man’s Sky and it’s even more ambitious
MORE : Baldur’s Gate 3 wins The Game Awards 2023 Game Of The Year – Xbox version out now
MORE : Monster Hunter Wilds announced for PS5 and Xbox and it looks pretty fantastic
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they’re seen on the site.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
